CNN fires back in court after the White House sends Jim Acosta a letter saying it's going to revoke his press pass again

The White House took away CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s hard press pass after he got into a heated exchange with President Donald Trump at a press conference on November 7.

Last week, a judge ordered the White House to temporarily reinstate Acosta’s press pass while he looks into the issue and makes a final ruling.

But shortly after the issue was handed down, the White House sent a letter to Acosta, saying they would not renew his press pass when the court order expires at the end of the month.

CNN responded to the White House’s letter by filing an update in court, which will likely force the judge to step in again.

The drama between the White House and Jim Acosta isn’t over yet.

Acosta, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, lost his press pass earlier this month, after getting into a heated exchange with President Donald Trump at a November 7 media briefing.

On Friday, Acosta won a major victory when he sued and a judge ordered the White House to temporarily reinstate his press pass while the judge looks into the case and makes a final ruling.

But just hours after that ruling was handed down, Acosta says he received a letter from the White House, announcing their intentions not to renew his press pass when the court order expires at the end of the month.

CNNAbove is a copy of the letter that the White House sent Acosta on Friday.

The report says that CNN had intended to “resolve this dispute amicably” by working with the White House and the White House Correspondents’ Association “to establish protocols” for press conferences “on a going forward basis.”

“Defendants did not respond to this offer to cooperate,” CNN’s lawyers said.

Instead, the White House sent the letter, which laid out their reasons for revoking Acosta’s press pass and gave him until Sunday night to respond to their complaints.

One of the reasons the judge reinstated the press pass is because the White House didn’t seem to give an explanation for their decision or offer due process.

CNN says the letter appears to be an attempt to “provide retroactive due process.”

If the White House does indeed let Acosta’s press pass expire after 14 days, the judge may be forced to reinstate the court order.

In an interview with Fox News, which was recorded on Friday after the judge’s ruling, Trump said his staff planned to come up with a code of conduct for press briefings to address the issue. No such rules have been put in place before.

“What they said though was that we have to create rules and regulations for conduct, etc., etc.,” Trump told Fox News host Chris Wallace. “We’re doing that. We’re going to write them up right now – it’s not a big deal.”

“And if he misbehaves, we’ll throw him out, or we’ll stop the news conference,” Trump added, referring to Acosta.

In a statement about the letter on Sunday, CNN said: “The White House is continuing to violate the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution. These actions threaten all journalists and news organisations. Jim Acosta and CNN will continue to report the news about the White House and the President.”